Monthly Archives: August 2015

Proper Fit of Body Armor

by Woodsbum

Now that I have body armor and have been wearing it around a bit to see how well it wears, a thought kept creeping into my head, “Is this expense really fit properly and am I wearing it correctly?”

When I was in the military we wore flak jackets. Considering it was simply a vest that you put on, it was quite difficult to wear it incorrectly. Even the new military armor systems are difficult to wear incorrectly because they are also vest type construction that offers very little adjustment.

Here is the article that Gunguy found and sent to me:

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Body armor is meant to keep you in the fight.  It should protect the vital organs which, if hit, would quickly take you down and prevent you from putting rounds on target. The possibility of saving your life is a secondary benefit of body armor.  With this purpose in mind we must understand those structures we need to protect which we can realistically protect while still maintaining a great degree of mobility.

Our primary concern is the heart and the large blood vessels which sprout from the top of the heart: the superior vena cava, the arch of the aorta and the pulmonary trunk. These vessels are collectively referred to as “the great vessels”.

The heart is important for its obvious function of providing pressure to circulate blood to the lungs via the right side of the heart and then on to the body via the left side of the heart.  Within the body the heart lies left of center, with its apex near the left nipple.  Thus, while fitting a plate as a general guideline we must select a plate which will cover the nipples to ensure the entire heart is protected.  Note that in some individuals the nipples may be more lateral than the apex of the heart.

The great vessels of the heart lie directly behind the uppermost portion of the sternum, known as the manubrium, and sit directly on top of the heart.  The great vessels wrap and twist around each other, making it likely that a hit to one will likely perforate another and result in massive hemorrhage.

Arguably the most important of the three great vessels in the Aorta, due to its size and high velocity of blood flow, 5 liters a minute.  The average 165 pound man has 5 liters of blood in his body and thus can completely bleed out within one minute if the Aorta is dramatically perforated.  Loss of consciousness can occur with less than 40% of blood loss, approximately two liters, and thus can occur in well under a minute.

Of equal importance to the heart is the respiratory diaphragm, the muscle which, when contracting, allows you to decrease air pressure within your lungs and thus draw in air. Destroy the diaphragm and you destroy one’s ability to breath.  Protecting the entirety of the respiratory diaphragm is not realistic, but the majority of it will be protected by a properly fitted plate.  The diaphragm is dome shaped, following the bottom of your rib cage and doming up into the chest cavity.

Protecting the vertebral column goes without saying -we wish to protect as much of this as possible without sacrificing mobility. Unfortunately, protecting the entire vertebral column is not realistic at this time.

It is important to note that a hit to the lungs may prove to eventually be lethal through blood loss or tension pneumothorax, but is not nearly as lethal as quickly as a hit to the heart and its great vessels. The liver and kidneys, while highly vascular, are also not immediately incapacitating and thus are of secondary concern.  The rest of the viscera in your abdomen are of tertiary concern.

Finding Balance:  Protection vs Mobility

When properly fitted a chest plate should not impinge on the anterior deltoids or pectoralis major muscles when punching out with a handgun or carbine.  Any impingement on the shoulder may create discomfort, premature fatigue and possibly even aggravate certain shoulder conditions.  In some cases too large of a plate may prevent a shooter from assuming an ideal hold on their weapon.  This, and even discomfort, can translate to misses down range.

A slightly smaller chest plate which fits with no impingement while punching out will not expose the heart as long as it still covers the nipples.  A smaller plate will translate to a small increase in exposure of peripheral lung tissue and abdominal viscera, but these are organs which can take a hit without immediate consequences to the shooter.  As stated previously, a shot to the lung, liver or kidney is not immediately fatal.  This should be considered when choosing a plate that fits properly.

NORNAVEOD i Meymaneh i Afghanistan

Positioning of the Front/Chest plate

The top of your chest plate should be at the level of your suprasternal notch, which is also known as the jugular notch.  Tracing the sternum with a finger superiorly, the soft spot you reach at the top of the sternum is the suprasternal notch.  If you press in with your finger and choke yourself you are in the right spot.  The chest plate should ride at least level with the top of your sternum while standing.  An easy way to ensure this is to place a finger in your suprasternal notch and position the plate such that the top of the plate touches the bottom of your finger.

Reference image (anterior view)

  • Red is your heart and related blood vessels
  • Dark Grey/Yellow is a properly positioned plate.
  • The sternum and clavicle are white with black outline


proper_wear_of_armor_2

Positioning of rear/back plate

Find the most prominent bony eminence at the base of your neck. This is your vertebral eminence. Count down two bony spinousus (or measure down about 1.5 inches) and that should be above the level of the superior aspect of your sternum and thus level with the top of your front plate. Positioning at least this high will ensure your entire heart and the great vessels are protected from a shot to the back.  The front and back plate should be level with one another when viewed from the side.

The vertebral eminence is marked in the diagram below in blue.

proper_wear_of_armor_3

Side and Shoulder Plates

Side plates are intended to protect the highly vascular elements of your abdomen. They were introduced to prevent troops from bleeding out in the chopper on the way to the field hospital. Side plates were not necessarily intended to protect the heart, but if you wear them high up into your armpits you can protect some of the lower portion of your heart.

Protecting your heart from a shot to side is accomplished by shoulder plates, such as the ones manufactured by Crye Precision.

proper_wear_of_armor_4

To Sum it Up

  • Chest/Front plate:  Even with top of the sternum while standing and covering the entirety of each nipple.  For best fit, the plate should not impinge on the shoulder when presenting a weapon.
  • Back/Rear plate:  Should lie no lower than an inch below your vertebral prominence.  A back plate one size larger than a chest plate is optimal.
  • Side plates:  The higher they ride the better.

An example of proper chest plate positioning

proper_wear_of_armor_5

An example of improper chest plate positioning

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Hopefully, this article will help you to understand how hard plates work. Obviously, you will not be walking around like a juggernaut and completely bulletproof from toenail to beanie. You also don’t want to go into a dangerous situation in a Speedo and flip flops. Find what works for you and just make sure you wear it as intended.

Good luck!!!!

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Reporter Shot on Live TV

by Woodsbum

Okay. This is a drastic departure from my normal posts, but I was truly shocked enough by this incident that I had to write something.

For those of you who are not aware of what took place, a reporter and her camera operator were killed by a former coworker this morning on live TV. At this point it looks like Vester Lee Flanagan II (aka Bryce Williams) walked up and killed the two news station employees (reporter and camera operator) and wounded the lady who was being interviewed.

This clip was the footage from the camera man’s perspective. He was filming the interview at the time he was shot and killed. As you can see, he does get a picture of the shooter as the camera is dropped.

And here is the video from the broadcast.

Ultimately, I am seriously ticked off that this guy did this. Not only does it add more fuel to the gun control fire, but it was a horrible way for this guy to express himself. I mean, seriously? This idiot gets fired, makes false claims about “racism” and then goes and shoots two of his former coworkers? Then, because he was such a sniveling weasel, he shoots himself. He seriously was such a little bitch that he couldn’t face the consequences of his actions. No wonder he started whining and filed false claims with anyone who would listen.

Here is the face of evil:

vester-flanagan

Vester Flanagan

Alison Parker and Adam Ward

Alison Parker and Adam Ward

WDBJ7, where these guys worked (except the lady being interviewed), has a very nice article about the incident.

Here is a snippet from that site’s report:

MONETA, Va. — The suspect accused of killing two WDBJ7 employees died at a hospital in Northern Virginia, according to Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton.

Vester Flanagan died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Fairfax hospital around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. He is a former WDBJ7 employee.

Officials believe he shot and killed WDBJ7’s Adam Ward and Alison Parker during a live broadcast Wednesday.

Flanagan’s personal car was found at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. Flanagan rented a separate car.

Around 11:30 a.m., law enforcement tried to stop Flanagan on Interstate 66 in Fauquier County but he refused to stop. Shortly after, he shot himself.

Flanagan sent a lengthy fax about the attack to a New York media organization.

My only hope is that this asshole’s estate is completely wiped out by the families of the two killed and survivor.

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Pipsissewa

by Woodsbum

Pipsissewa is an herb that has been credited with having medicinal properties. It can be applied directly to the skin for sores and blisters. If brewed into tea it is used for UTI, bladder/kidney stones, fluid retention, spasms, epilepsy, anxiety and cancer. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make the medicine. They can be dried then ground up or used fresh.

Pipsissewa

Pipsissewa

The interesting thing about the name of this plant is that it is actually a Cree word that means “to break into smaller parts.” From what I read, this is HIGHLY effective on kidney and bladder stones.

If you don’t want to go traipsing through the woods looking for this plant, you can just order it online. Here is one supplier I found.

Rather than buying it you can go find it out in the wild. There is even a trail over near Okanogan/Wenatchee that sports the name of this plant. Just look in drier wooded areas or near sandy soil. It is fairly prevalent in those locations. In another words, check the tree lines on the East side of the state.

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Overcoming Normalcy Bias

by Woodsbum

Gunguy sent me this article the day it came out. I am still having issues with how I feel about it. There are some really good points, but there are definitely spots that I am completely uncomfortable with and feel like the guy missed his own point.

Take a look and reach your own conclusions: Is this guy full of himself or do you have a new mantra?

Here is the article and the link:

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TEOTWAWKI is NOW! Overcoming Normalcy Bias: Critical Thinking for Survival

August 10, 2015

One of the most important skills for survival that must be mastered, or at least practiced at a journeyman level, by the prepared individual, family, and tribe, is critical thinking. Of all the practical, tactical training and preparedness you can can do, the single most important, most often overlooked, is basic critical thinking skills. As I write, travel and teach, and interact with contemporary people, I regularly witness the lack of this in the broad majority of people. I’ve even been known to suffer from it myself.

People, even in the “firearms,” “tactical training,” “preparedness,” and “militia” communities, suffer from a pronounced lack of critical thinking skills, all too often.

An example of this can be seen in the recent frenzy within the preparedness and liberty-minded communities, over the Jade Helm 2015 UW exercise. For months prior to the beginning of the exercise, we saw unfounded, unsourced reports by sensationalist outlets in the preparedness and militia communities repeated across the preparedness “media” and social media as “fact.” Here we are, a full month into the exercise, nearing the stated end of the exercise, and most of the original source reporters have either stopped talking about it completely, or have taken a 180 degree course shift from their original stance, of “it’s an imposition of martial law,” to “well, it’s still an attempt to normalize seeing military personnel operating on US soil!”

This is despite the fact that COUNTLESS recent Special Forces veterans within our own virtual communities (yes, myself included), have spent an inordinate amount of bandwidth trying to explain to people the concept of a “theater-level” exercise, and pointing out the recent historical precedents for this exact type of exercise.

It’s funner, and far more entertaining however, to imagine resisting against martial law, in some form of masturbatory Red Dawn scenario, than to use critical thinking to recognize, “Hey, maybe we SHOULD at least listen to what the guys with actual experience in THIS EXACT TYPE OF TRAINING EXERCISE have to say, before we jump to conclusions. You know what happened as a result of the hyper-paranoia induced within the preparedness and militia communities by these Harbingers of Doom? The virtual community lost even more credence with the average Joe and Jane Citizen, who saw the community represented as a bunch of farcical, paranoid lunatics. Seriously.

That was a lack of critical thinking. It’s easier to blindly repost scary memes on Facebook though.

A similar example can be seen in the oversimplification of “use-of-force” scenarios among the preparedness and survivalists. Too often, discussions of use-of-force end up being artificially simplified to, “I’ve got mah .45! Ah’ll jest shoot that there sumbitch in the eye!” Or, “I’m going to use my gutterfighting, dirty tricks to gouge his eye out and skull-fuck him to death!” While those may work as standard responses to dangerous encounters in a TEOTWAWKI “Zombie Apocalypse,” the simple reality of life is, we’re not dealing with a Zombie Fucking Apocalypse. We’re dealing with an entirely different TEOTWAWKI situation. In the real TEOTWAWKI life we’re living, right now, today, those responses as standardized responses, will only end up in one result: getting buggered in the ass by your cellmate. Oversimplification of any scenario is, in itself, a failure of critical thinking, in recognizing that the world is NOT black-and-white, and there are always shades of gray involved. Maybe not fifty shades, but damned sure more than two.

The above example of the REAL TEOTWAWKI leads directly into the one failure of critical thinking that is currently, and will continue to be, the leading killer of otherwise solid, prepared individuals. This ranges from armed citizens, to soldiers, to armed police officers on the street. That is “normalcy bias.”

What is “normalcy bias?”

Wikipedia, that paragon of journalistic objectivism, defines normalcy bias as “a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to undestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects….The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur….People with normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before…”

That’s actually—surprisingly for Wikipedia—a pretty accurate description. So, how do armed citizens, who have actually, apparently overcome their normalcy bias at least enough to recognize that something bad enough to warrant needing a gun MIGHT occur, suffer from normalcy bias? How do soldiers and police officers suffer from normalcy bias? How can I say that preppers, who obviously recognize the potential for a disaster to occur—that’s why their preppers, for fuck’s sake—suffer from normalcy bias?

Well, let’s back up for a few minutes first, and look at WHY normalcy bias occurs.

The Why and How Behind Normalcy Bias
Humans as a rule, in any given scenario or situation, generally “see” exactly what we expect to see. An example of this regularly occurs in the shoot house during the decision-making drills when I teach CQB. As the shooter moves around the angles of the door, he “pies” quickly, to see as much of the interior as possible, before actually effecting entry. Many times, they’ll “see” a role-player inside “pointing a gun” at them, because they do, in fact, see the role-player’s hands up and to the front, and they do, in fact, see a gun. What they don’t recognize, because it’s not what they expect to see, is that the gun is actually laying on the ground at the role-player’s feet, and the outstretched hands are palms-out, in a placating or pleading gesture. For the first several iterations, almost invariably (certainly in more than 90% of cases) the shooter engages the role-player with simulated gunfire, because they “saw” a “gun pointed at them,” because that’s what they expected to see, and that was processed faster than their brain could piece together what was actually seen.

The same thing often happens in what later turn out to be apparently unjustified shootings by both armed citizens and sworn police officers. In dealing with an aggressive, combative subject, something appears in the hands, and the good guy, conditioned by sub-par training, to “expect” a combative subject to have a weapon, engages with lethal force, only to discover after the fact, it was a cellphone or some other innocuous implement that was not really a weapon at all (it’s important to note, I’m not criticizing the individual in this case, but their training. There’s no point in criticizing someone for following their human nature).

Besides seeing what we expect to see, the second why behind normalcy bias is the human tendency to ignore and/or deny those things that make us uncomfortable. Someone who is uncomfortable with physical violence may be in denial, even as they find themselves on the pavement, getting a boot stomp party across their forehead. This happens with police officers and armed citizens with a frightening frequency, and there is ample surveillance and dash camera footage to validate it. Even a half-hearted search of YouTube, coupled with some minor objectivism when watching the videos, makes this abundantly obvious.

Finally, if something cannot be “ignored” or “denied,” we dismiss it as unrealistic. I witnessed one major example of this on my buddy Greg Ellifritz’s Active Response Training Facebook page recently, when he posted a link to an article discussing the relationship, or lack thereof, between what “gun guys” wear in tactical shooting classes, and what is actually needed for personal protection, based off the recorded use-of-force experiences of armed citizens and police officers. The argument was made that, since the chances of a private citizen getting involved in a shooting that involved them using their rifle was slim to none, that training with a full load-out, and practicing things like speed reloads and related esoteria, was largely unnecessary and irrelevant.

There’s a lot of apparent value to that argument. While I do drive around with a loaded M4 on the backseat floorboard of my vehicle, and carry a Glock 17 or 19 concealed on my person religiously, I don’t drive around with a plate carrier and warbelt or RACK on. If we look at regular use-of-force incidents by armed citizens in public, and at home, most are successfully ended with far less than one magazine out of a Glock, let alone out of a rifle. One commenter noted that if an armed citizen fired an entire magazine out of an AR15, in a defensive shooting scenario, he or she would be the lead story on the national news. If they used TWO magazines, they’d probably go in the history books.

The problem is, THAT is normalcy bias, and it leads us directly into the crux of this article: We don’t live in what most of us recognize as “normal” times anymore. I would argue that we are, in fact, in the midst of TEOTWAWKI, and most people, including “preppers” are in a normalcy bias-driven denial of that reality.

TEOTWAWKI…For Real
For most of us, of a, shall I say, “certain age,” normal is defined as the America we recognize from our youth and young adulthood. That America is gone, as most of us recognize. The denial in question isn’t that. The denial is expecting that “normal” as we define it is going to return.

The core of this article clicked with me several nights ago, as my wife and I watched the Republican presidential candidate debates on television. No one of the candidates was arguing for a return, or even a conservation, of “normal” America. From Donald Trump acknowledging that he had—and would continue—to buy politicians, and that it was “no big deal,” because “everybody does it,” to Chris Christie arguing that there was nothing wrong with shredding the Constitution, in the pursuit of “security,” to Ben Carson arguing that taxes are a moral equivalent of tithing, there was really none of the candidates—with the arguable exception of Rand Paul, who made any argument that even hinted at a desire to return America to “normal.”

We face constant, and increasing foreign invasion across the southern border. We face increasing socialization of our society and government, and beyond calls for electing a “Republican” to roll back the socialist policies of the Obama administration, including his “unconstitutional executive orders” (no mention was made of those of his predecessor, I noted), no one really expects any changes to that either. We see calls from Mohammedan subcultures within our country to be allowed to deal with things under Sharia Law. Rather than laugh at the absurdity of it, too often, we give it credence by even taking it seriously.

Sure, they’re serious, but the only sane response to that is a resounding, “Go fuck yourself, or go home and fuck a goat,” by the political leadership of any community that finds itself confronted with such pleas. Even giving them the appearance of legitimate consideration is admission that “normal” is no longer “normal,” and is admission that it really us TEOTWAWKI.

Normalcy bias, in this instance, is the belief that TEOTWAWKI will be heralded by some obvious, major catalyst, like an EMP or the declaration of martial law by the government. Ignoring the absolute, absurd impossibility of effective martial law in the United States, as a whole, think about the actual definition of TEOTWAWKI. It’s HERE, NOW, and denying it is normalcy bias.

Yes, use of force by armed citizens are generally solved by 2-3 rounds in 2-3 seconds at 2-3 yards. Accepting that, and determining that, because this is “normal,” then that’s all you need to prepare for, even as we argue and discuss the infiltration of jihadi terrorists, and WITNESS the radicalization of home-grown jihadi sympathizers, is a textbook example of normalcy bias.

Stockpiling beans, bullets, and band-aids, in the interest of being prepared for TEOTWAWKI, without recognition that you are in the midst of TEOTWAWKI, is normalcy bias.

Overcoming The Bias
We see media pundits every day, telling us we have to move past our biases, and accept all people as the same. While that’s absurd, on the face of it, there are biases we do need to overcome, if we’re to survive long enough to ensure that our children and grandchildren will survive. How do we do so?

1) Accept that “normal” is no longer “normal.” This requires more than simply telling yourself. It requires internalizing it as reality and truth. It’s great for patriotic, conservative, Americans to long for yesteryear, and the greatness of the Pax Americana. It’s also completely fucking delusional. America is only a superpower now, among nation-state actors. The transnational terrorist groups do not recognize American sovereignty and superiority. If they did, they would never have started fighting, or would have yielded by now. A wall along the Mexican border is great…except we already know there are more tunnels than an goddamned ant farm, traversing the border. So, sure, let’s drop several billion dollars building a wall that won’t be any more useful than the locks on your car door are (remember, as my grandfather told me when I was a kid, “car locks only keep honest people honest.”). Illegal aliens are going to continue crossing the border, and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it, outside of genocide, or the total collapse of our economy.

2) Recognize what the “new normal” implies for you and yours. This may range from reduced police presence in your neighborhood or community, especially for dealing with property crimes and other “minor” issues. Think about what happened in NYC last year after two officers were assassinated, sitting in their cruiser. If you live in a really shitty neighborhood, where people are as likely to assault cops as help them, you should—justifiably–expect the same thing. As my wife pointed out yesterday, when she heard that people were “acting out” in Ferguson, on the anniversary of the Wilson-Brown shooting, “if I was a cop, I wouldn’t even respond to calls in their neighborhood. Fuck them. If they hate me, why help them?”

Recognize that, as the elevation of “special groups” of people, of whom you are not a member, for whatever reason, continues, if you find yourself engaged in a legal or political struggle with them, you will lose, because they are “special,” and you are not. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to approve of it, but if you deny it, you’ll find yourself “married” to a cellmate, and the relationship WILL be consummated.

Recognize that, ultimately, you have to rely on yourself, and those with whom you’ve built trusted relationships. That may range from dealing with community problems in an “extrajudicial” manner, to helping those who’ve lost their employment and income, by either providing employment for them, or using some gray market type of exchange with them, to allow them to procure the necessary items of life, ranging from food to shelter and clothing.

Experience Is Only A Start
Experience is a great advantage when dealing with bad situations. Experience in violence is a great advantage when overcoming the normalcy bias necessary to self-defense situations, whether that’s getting caught in traffic in the midst of a “flash mob” and recognizing that escape means driving OVER people, or it’s recognizing—and accepting—the reality that the dude coming at you in the middle of the alley, with a knife in his hand is not curious if you could spare a pat of butter for his crackers.

When we’ve faced violence before, it becomes significantly easier to acknowledge its occurrence. This is why the criminal gangbanger with a Saturday Night Special has a far better chance of survival than a white-bread suburban stockbroker with a basement full of bunker supplies, but no experience with interpersonal violence, regardless of how many AK47 and AR15 rifles he has stockpiled in his safe.

Ultimately though, experience can be as much a hindrance as a help. If you expect all future engagements with people to reflect what you experienced as a neighborhood bully when you were a kid, or what you saw in Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq, you may find yourself unpleasantly surprised when it takes a different face. Experience is useful, only when it is used as a springboard metric for improvement through further training.

“Hey, I recognize that trouble can occur. It will probably NOT look like what I’ve experienced, so let me look around, do some serious studying, and see what it probably IS going to look like.”

I’m a historian. I see and recognize the parallels between the TEOTWAWKI we are experiencing, and the TEOTWAWKI other empires have faced in the past. Expecting the Vandals to come through the gates, on horseback, swinging swords and lances, behind war banners and a single leader though, would be a hindrance. I recognize that the Vandals, this time around, are already here, and more are en route daily, not under one leader, but with a common shared cause, that includes marginalization and disenfranchisement of people like me. They’re not armed with swords and lances. They’re armed with computers, reporters in their pockets, guns, and IED.

Experience is a teacher, but we have to let it teach us.

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See Through Scope Mounts

by Woodsbum

Last year I picked up two Marlin lever guns, one in 30-30 and one in 45-70. Both rifles I ended up putting scopes on, but wanted a way to still have access to my open sights for snap shooting. I opted for a similar setup as to what I have on my old Remington 760 30-06 which uses see through scope mounts and a scope.

Having used see through scope mounts on my 30-06 for over 20 years, I have come to love the setup. It allows you the opportunity to just quickly snap shoot as in brushy environments, but allows enables you to use your scope for longer shots. My 30-06 has an old Simmons Prohunter 6-24 x 50 on it for longer shots, but with the see through scope mounts I have used it quite effectively as a brush rifle. The very fast follow up shot capability that a pump or lever action provides really makes the use of see through scope mounts a phenomenal configuration to fully play to these action’s strengths. Jeff Cooper loved the bolt action 30 caliber with a scout scope, but I like my configurations much better.

For some reason this type of setup has fallen WAY out of popularity among the general hunting population. Either that or it never caught on fully, thus making the search for good rings a bit more difficult. When Jurassic World came out, I noticed that the character Owen carried a Marlin similar to mine and was sporting the Leupold see through scope mounts. Since I am already a fan and have been half heartedly searching for the right mounts I was now motivated to step up my search.

I looked at the Leupold mounts, but only saw versions that required a rail for attachment. The rail was seriously hindering my ability to see my sights and get a decent sight picture. There are more cut down rails available, but I opted to find something that didn’t require the use of a rail.

Amazon gave me two options:

Kwik-Site KS-336

Kwik-Site KS-336

Kwik-Site KS-336

Millett Aluminum See Thru

Millett Aluminum See Thru

Millett Aluminum See Thru

Since I had 2 rifles and no way to really check out the quality of either product, I ordered one of each and figured if either one was horrible I could just order an additional of the good one. Luckily for me, both seem pretty nice, installed easily, allow a great sight picture, and handle the recoil without loosening up. Also, it was nice that the Kwik-Site was a polished blued steel color while the Millett was a bit more matte colored. This means that both my rifles also have rings/mounts that match the rifle and scope.

I was actually a bit worried about the Kwik-Site mounts because I have never heard of them before. Interestingly enough the mounts handled the recoil of my 45-70 without issue, never slipped, and after sighting in I was making little flower patterns at 50 yards because I was going through the same hole with every shot. As a point needing noted: bench rests are amazing for sighting in your rifles. Four shots are needed instead of countless rounds to get fully sighted in.

The iron sites are also afforded a completely unobstructed view of the target with both models. All said and done, I am quite pleased with both products.

On my next day shooting I will take some time and get some pictures taken of both the mounting system and a sight picture on both rifles. It will also help you to understand the versatility of this configuration.

On a parting note, I am very happy to finally see Hollywood using their heads for once. Normally they like to push the tacti-cool aspect of firearms. Finally they actually armed a character with a weapon system that was truly perfect for both the environment and the background of that character. Kudos to you guys on this one.

Here is a shot from the movie with the rifle setup I am referencing.

jurassic-world

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